Can Jimmy Fallon last in TV's piranha pool?

By Peggy Drexler

Updated 7:22 PM ET, Tue February 18, 2014

Chat with us in Facebook Messenger. Find out what's happening in the world as it unfolds.

Photos:Photos: 'Tonight Show' hosts

'Tonight Show' hosts – Jimmy Fallon's takeover of "The Tonight Show" has been inevitable, show producer Lorne Michaels told GQ. "He's the closest to (Johnny) Carson that I've seen of this generation," Michaels said. Stephen Colbert joins him to take a selfie on his debut Monday night. Fallon is the latest in a six-decade line of "Tonight" hosts.

Hide Caption

1 of 8

Photos:Photos: 'Tonight Show' hosts

'Tonight Show' hosts – Johnny Carson's 30 years as a host of "The Tonight Show" made him a talk show icon. Carson, who hosted from 1962 to 1992, set the standard for late night show formats and style. Here, Carson speaks to a guest in 1964.

Hide Caption

2 of 8

Photos:Photos: 'Tonight Show' hosts

'Tonight Show' hosts – Comedian and songwriter Steve Allen was the show's first host, from 1954 to 1957. His prolific career earned him two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Here, Allen poses for a promotional portrait in 1955.

Hide Caption

3 of 8

Photos:Photos: 'Tonight Show' hosts

'Tonight Show' hosts – Jack Paar's unpredictable and dramatic presence drew more than 7 million viewers every night between 1957 and 1962. The show was renamed "The Jack Paar Show" while he was host.

Hide Caption

4 of 8

Photos:Photos: 'Tonight Show' hosts

'Tonight Show' hosts – Jay Leno starred in "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" from 1992 to 2009 and then moved to his own prime-time show, "The Jay Leno Show," on NBC. After a public controversy over scheduling changes while Conan O'Brien hosted the show in 2009, Leno returned to host "The Tonight Show" in 2010. Here, Leno jokes with Jerry Seinfeld in 1998.

Hide Caption

5 of 8

Photos:Photos: 'Tonight Show' hosts

'Tonight Show' hosts – Conan O'Brien hosted the show for seven months and left after NBC announced that it would be moving his show to after midnight and Leno's prime-time show to "The Tonight Show's" time slot. Here, O'Brien on his final show on January 22, 2010.

Hide Caption

6 of 8

Photos:Photos: 'Tonight Show' hosts

'Tonight Show' hosts – Leno returned in March 2010. Here, Leno chats with President Barack Obama in October 2012.

Hide Caption

7 of 8

Photos:Photos: 'Tonight Show' hosts

'Tonight Show' hosts – Leno hosted "The Tonight Show" for 22 years -- minus seven months in 2009-10 when Conan O'Brien had the chair. He had his final episode on February 6.

Hide Caption

8 of 8

Story highlights

Peggy Drexler: Critics were waiting to see Fallon fall on his face, but he scored big

A lot of us were rooting for Jimmy Fallon on Monday night. Given the contentious recent history of the host chair -- Leno to O'Brien to Leno -- he was standing on a media trapdoor, with critics just waiting to pull the lever.

Early reviews say he not only survived one of the highest-pressure debuts ever -- he killed it.

If nothing else, a big debut buys you time.

Peggy Drexler

But does victimless humor -- the kind that does not slice, dice and julienne its subjects -- have legs in a culture that likes its entertainment with a serrated edge? It's a question that applies across demographics -- from the prized millennials, who have grown up on the discord of reality television; to the baby boomers, who are decades into acerbic late night as we know it -- and will have to adjust to bits like slow rolling the news.

It's a tough neighborhood, with Jimmy a little like Bambi walking the streets of a war zone. Or, as Stephen Colbert jokingly (but not inaccurately) said on Monday night: "Welcome to 11:30, bitch."

One of Fallon's established competitors, David Letterman, in a recent monologue said that Rosie O'Donnell met her fiancée when her car broke down and Rosie "pulls up behind her in her tow truck." (Pause for nervous laughter at the lesbian joke.) Rosie, predictably, was not amused, firing back to Dave: "I don't remember making fun of you when you had sex with all your interns."

Jimmy's humor can be topical, but almost always with a softer touch: Hillary Clinton saying she doesn't know if she'll run for president is like him saying "I still don't know if I'll have a beer on St. Patrick's Day." Somehow, I don't think there will be any fights with Rosie.

JUST WATCHED

Stars pay up on $100 Fallon bet

MUST WATCH

JUST WATCHED

Fallon to start new era of 'Tonight Show'

MUST WATCH

Fallon to start new era of 'Tonight Show'03:03

And in a broader context, it's a tough entertainment media in general. Look no further than reality television, populated by macho slimeballs, back-biting boyfriend stealers and assorted high achievers in the low art of interpersonal nastiness. There is a whole new genre allowing us to make fun of rural America. No, Mama June, we're not laughing with you.

There is even research that the mean-spirited swamp that is reality TV is starting to seep into the culture in general.

Researchers at Iowa State University showed 250 women three scenes: one violent, one frightening and one showing gossip -- including a woman who ostracized a friend. All got a response, but the highest mental arousal was category three, which the researchers termed "relational aggression." In other words, watching people be mean to each other may "prime the brain" to be mean ourselves.

Jimmy's (we're all friends just joking around) humor might be up against something even bigger -- right in his demographic sweet spot. A University of Michigan Institute of Social Research study looked at 72 studies of empathy among college students over 30 years. They found that empathy -- the ability to identify with others and relate to their feelings -- has dropped an incredible 40% since 2000.

Among the reasons: the technology-driven isolation, a generational sense of entitlement and social media's ability to call attention to ourselves. Also responsible is the winning-is-everything sports culture and huge paydays for those who climb to the top of their fields.